Hey, Girls Can Drink Whiskey Too!

Sponsored by Cooper’s Craft

Disclosure: Although I was invited by Cooper’s Craft to attend the Summer Sipper’s event and try their bourbon whiskey, all opinions come from the bottom of my tiny blogging heart. ❤

Have you ever stopped to think how confined we are by traditional gender stereotypes; these tiny social constructs that affect so many of the trivial daily decisions that we make? Anything from what we wear to what we drink is affected by societal norms. But besides being exhausting, the stereotypes we use can be so limiting. That’s what I realized when I was invited to the Cooper’s Craft Summer Sipper’s event to try their bourbon whiskey.

Traditionally, whiskey is considered an old-fashioned man’s drink. So, just as I hadn’t learned to drink beer until I was in my thirties, in keeping with tradition, I had never tried whiskey until my thirties either. But since I’ll do nearly anything for a writing assignment, I decided to attend the event and give this bourbon whiskey a try.

Part of the Brown-Forman family of drinks, Cooper’s Craft is bourbon whiskey which gets 100% of its color and 50% of its flavor from the barrel. And this brand is an homage to the barrel raisers, called coopers. Thick with heritage, it is a smooth, easy to drink whiskey with an oaky aroma. It also has a slight spice to it, so although it goes down very smooth, it has some heat to it. Heat is not something that mixes well with 90°F weather in Miami, so we got a little creative and learned to craft our own refreshing drinks at the event. The recipes I learned were too good not to share, so if you’re feeling adventurous and willing to come out of your comfort zone, I’m sharing three bourbon recipes[i] for you to try:

Three Bourbon Whiskey Recipes

AFTER BARREL

Instructions
Place blueberries and strawberries in a shaker. Pour Peach liquor over the berries. Muddle the strawberries, blueberries and peach liquor just enough to release the juices. Add Cooper’s Craft Bourbon and orange bitters for a nice tang. Add ice cubes and shake. Pour and enjoy!

KENTUCKY LUXEDO RECIPE

Instructions
Combine Coopers’ and Maraschino Liqueur into a mixing glass and stir with a bar spoon. Muddle sugar and bitters at the bottom of an old-fashioned glass. Add ice and strain into the glass with sugar and bitters mixture. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry.

Gender is a beautiful thing, but it’s also only a biological thing. Sometimes we use it to limit ourselves and prevent us from experiencing things we might otherwise enjoy. Each stereotype can be a brick used to build walls around us until, before we know it, we’ve boxed ourselves in. We can begin deconstructing these by practicing little reversals, and something simple like learning to drink bourbon can be a small step in that direction.

Stay tuned for the next Inspirational Woman in Her Thirties who’s breaking gender stereotypes in the whisky industry after taking the road less traveled and living life less ordinary.